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October 15, 2012

Halloween Character Booktacular w/ author Jamie Manning & Giveaway!

“You guys, this is crazy.” I clung to Chance’s arm like a
leech as we left the safety of Kayla’s Volvo and headed down the dirt road that
cut through the woods.

“Relax,
Ava,” Lila said, leading our little group. “You’re already half dead, remember?
You’re the last one who should be
scared.”

Sometimes
I really hated her. “I’m not scared,” I snapped, still cowering against my new
boyfriend’s very muscular arm. “I just don’t think we should be doing this. I
mean, we had to climb over a gate back there. Doesn’t that mean this place is
off-limits?”

“Um,
yeah. Sure.” One thing about Erik? He could always spin a situation to his
favor. It was one of the things I liked about him, actually. Well, that, and he
wasn’t bad to look at.

“You
guys stop,” Kayla said, her voice tinged with excitement. “This is gonna be so
fun.” She adjusted the messenger bag slung over her shoulder, which was no
doubt filled with candles, incense, a Ouija board and any other macabre,
séance-y things she thought we might need.

Oh,
did I forget to mention that part? Yeah, my friends and I are holding a séance.

At
midnight.

In
an abandoned cemetery buried in the middle of the woods.

Fun
times.

“You
have one crazy definition of fun, Kayla.” Though I would have chosen to do anything else tonight—I’m not really one
for cemeteries, go figure—I was glad I at least got to spend my very first
Halloween (well, the first I could remember)
with my best friend. And my boyfriend. Okay, and the vampire-hunting twins,
too.

The
first time I met Erik and Lila in that mall—when they had been so kind to show
up and “dispose” of the dead vampire—I was terrified of them. I mean, Hello?
I’m half vamp; being around those who hunt down monsters like me isn’t exactly
my first choice of social circles. But I’ve gotten to know them since then, and
they’re not the scary killers I thought they were. Okay, maybe Lila is—a
little.

“Are
you kidding?” Kayla said. “Hanging out in a cemetery at night? This is
awesome!” The echo of her shout reverberated off the towering forest flanking
both sides of our narrow dirt path. The hollow sound sent chills scurrying up
and down my back, and I clenched Chance’s arm even tighter.

“Oops.
Sorry.” I smiled though I knew he couldn’t see me and eased up a bit with my
grip. Sometimes I forgot I had super strength. Though Chance was muscular (oh,
was he muscular), he was still only human. Well, mostly.

“It’s
cool,” he said, pulling his arm from my grabby fingers and sliding it around my
waist, cradling me closer to him. I could feel the powerful heat radiating off
him. It was mind-numbingly intoxicating—as was the sweet, alluring scent of his
blood.

The
night Chance pulled me from the coffin where my Creator, Aldric, had buried me,
I was overcome with that scent. It was all I could think of, all I had wanted.
It took a while before I was able to ignore my cravings and simply enjoy the
way it comforted me, made me feel safe. I know it sounds weird, a vampire not wanting to drink someone’s blood,
but I didn’t. Not again.

“I’m
so glad you two are behind me,” Lila said, her voice faint as a strong wind
picked up and carried it into the distance. “I really don’t wanna throw up out
here.”

“Jealousy
is an ugly color on you, Lila,” I said with a smile. Though she was several
feet in front of me, I could feel her body tense, the blood running through her
veins quickening its pace. It was no secret Lila and I didn’t much care for
each other. She was a firm believer that all
vampires were pure evil, me included; I was a firm believer that uppity,
stake-wielding snobs should keep their distance, definitely her included. We agreed to disagree, and a natural,
hostile relationship formed.

“No
color’s ugly on me, vamp.” I could just make out her shadowy figure in the dark.
She had pulled a stake from the harness she wore on her back and was twirling
it over and over in her hands. I felt all tingly inside knowing that I got
under her skin.

“Hey!
You said you wanted to come here.”
Kayla slowed her gait until she fell behind Chance and me, then crossed the
narrow path and stepped up beside me. “Remember?”

I
sighed. “Yes, I remember.” And I had
said that. Not my fault Kayla sucked at recognizing sarcasm.

“Then
try to have fun, okay?” Her big
doe-like eyes filled with moonlight that filtered down from between the trees.

“Yeah,
Ava.” Erik this time, still forging ahead down the path. “It’s Halloween.
Anything can happen on Halloween.” I could tell by the movement of shadows that
he was looking over his shoulder at us, but he was too far away and there
wasn’t enough light from the moon to make out his features. Which was probably
a good thing, since Chance was kind of jealous of Erik. No clue why.

“Okay,
fine.” I learned a while ago that fighting Kayla on something—especially when
she had the support of her friends—was a big waste of time. “But I mean it you
guys, no one better try and scare me, you got it?”

Lila
laughed. “Cross my heart.”

We
walked what felt like five miles deep into the woods before a glowing light
appeared in the darkness a couple hundred yards away. At first I couldn’t make
out what it was, which allowed said light to still be cool and ethereal. Once
we got closer, however, my breath caught in my throat and my skin was suddenly
trying to crawl away. “Is that…?”

“Yep,”
Kayla said, a bounce in both her step andher voice. “The Virgin Mary. She glows.”
She laughed a little and took off ahead of the group—directly for the
scary-looking holy image shrouded by night.

“It’s
a statue,” Chance whispered, clearly sensing my apprehension. Well,
apprehension wasn’t really a strong enough word for what I was feeling. It was
like I had been buried alive all over again. I suddenly regretted telling Kayla
(sarcastically or not) that I wanted to come here. I mean, what was I thinking,
coming to a cemetery again? I hadn’t been in one since the night I climbed from
my own grave, the night I swore I’d never be in one again. Self-promise fail,
Ava. As the weight of what tonight was actually
gonna be fell on me, my lungs constricted, my body struggling for each
breath of air. I felt lightheaded, dizzy, nauseous. If this was what Halloween
was all about, I was so glad I had no
memory.

“I-I
knew that,” I stammered, my voice caught in my throat. I swallowed a few times
as fear settled over me; something was…off
about this night. And I wasn’t just talking about the lit-up Virgin. I had
a sense of unease that I couldn’t shake, like we were making a huge mistake by
visiting this cemetery and performing a séance. A huge, stupid mistake.

“Did
you, really?” Chance asked as we drew closer to the cemetery. A low stone wall
appeared through the darkness, encasing the graveyard as it disappeared into
the thick black of the forest. I couldn’t help but wonder why a wall that
essentially served no purpose would have been erected around a cemetery. Did
those who built it think it would keep people out? Or…keep people in?

I
shuddered. “No,” I confessed. “I think I’m just on edge, you know? Not thinking
straight.”

Chance
laughed. “Yeah, Ava. That’s gotta be it.”

“Hey,
watch it!” I playfully smacked him on the arm, which only made him laugh
harder. “You’re not supposed to make fun of me.”

“I’m
sorry,” he said through his laughter. “Really, I’m sorry.” He was smiling wide,
the bright white of his teeth glowing like the statue in the moonlight. “You
know I wasn’t making fun.” I glared up at him before smiling myself. This was
one of those moments I had been hoping we would one day have. Killing vampires
and dealing with so much death all the time, I honestly never thought we’d make
it to a place where we could just laugh and enjoy each other’s company and be normal. Well, as normal as a vampire
hybrid and her supernatural boyfriend could be while sneaking into a
God-knows-how-old cemetery in the middle of the night on Halloween to perform
some ridiculous séance. Eh, who needs normal.

I once
again dug my fingers into the taut skin of Chance’s exposed arm as we topped
the tiny hill that led to the entrance in the stone wall.

“Hey,”
he said, pulling his arm from my grasp. “I thought we talked about those nails
of yours?”

“Sorry,”
I stammered. “It’s just…you can’t smell it?” My nose was being invaded by a
scent I had become more than accustomed to over the past few months, sending my
head reeling and the vampire inside of me into a near frenzy. Without Chance’s
arm for release, I moved to gripping and twisting my hands together to help expunge
some of my erratic nervousness.

“Smell
what?” he asked, pulling me to a stop. “You don’t mean…?” He began spinning in
circles, searching the surrounding woods—another thing I had become more than
accustomed to. Why he had decided to help me on my quest for humanity by
killing vampires was beyond me, but I was so
glad he had.

“No,
no, not that.” I took him by the arm, careful not to dig into his skin with my
nails. “No vampires. Just…death.” The
putrid odors of rot and decay flooded my senses with each step we made toward
the cemetery. I honestly didn’t know if I would be able to last through
whatever Halloween tradition Kayla had planned for us.

“I
know,” I said, trying to hold back on
the sarcasm. “It’s just a lot to deal with. I’ve never been around this much of
it before. Well, not since…you know.” Chance nodded, remembering the night we
first met. Sure, I had been around death—both the dead and the undead—but never in the capacity at
which I was currently facing. It was basically like walking into a flower shop where
every beautifully-scented petal had withered and died.

“I
guess that would be kinda
overwhelming, huh?” I just smiled as he slid his arm back around my waist.
“Don’t worry, Ava. I’ll try and keep your mind busy.” He brought his free hand
to my face, warm fingers caressing my cheek before sliding down my jaw and
turning my lips up to meet his. Each time Chance kissed me, no matter the
situation or dilemma we were in, it was magical. And this time was no
exception. I was instantly able to drown out the nasty smell of death and focus
solely on the euphoric taste of his lips, the warmth of his heat, the scent of
his blood. I could’ve stayed like that forever.

Which
meant, naturally, that something—or someone—was
about to interrupt.

“Hey,
if you two are done giving each other a tonsil exam, we’d like to get this
party started.” Lila’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard, screeching into my
head and completely shattering the moment. With reluctance, I pulled away from
Chance and glared at her.

“Tonsil
exam?” I said. “Really, Lila?” She didn’t respond, only shrugged her shoulders
and looked away. “You know, you can be so gross sometimes.”

“Says
the girl sucking face in a cemetery.” Lila spun on her heels and joined Kayla
and Erik on the other side of the stone wall. I bit my tongue to keep from
tackling her linebacker-style.

“She’s
jealous,” Chance whispered in my ear, which was dancing wildly beneath the
nibbling he was doing. My eyes were rolling like boulders inside their sockets
as tiny shockwaves skittered up and down my neck. It was official:
Hot-boyfriend kisses were the best medicine
for nerves.

“Uh
huh,” I muttered, sliding a hand to his firm chest and reluctantly pushing him
away. Though I wanted nothing more than to have a full-on make-out session
right there in the woods, I needed to stay focused. Though I wasn’t
anticipating anything going wrong tonight, I couldn’t let any of my friends get
hurt because I was “sucking face” with my boyfriend. “Sorry,” I whispered,
pleading with my eyes for forgiveness. Chance smiled and pulled back, but kept
his arm tightly wound around my waist. “I just have to pay attention,” I added,
guilt clawing at my skin. It wasn’t like he and I had a lot of free time to do…things. Most of my time was taken up by
training with Aldric and trying to kill vampires; boyfriend time kept being
pushed back.

“It’s
cool,” he said, and I could tell he meant it. “You can make up for it later.” A
devilish smile slid across his face when he looked down at me, and as we
crossed the threshold into the cemetery, it slid across my face, too.

The
super-old cemetery looked as I imagined it would. Decrepit, broken headstones
worn down by decades of weather and age were littered haphazardly around the area
in no discernible pattern. As we wound our way among them, things like “Bless Our Child” and “Loving Mother Lost” jumped out at me, as
did some of the dates—there wasn’t a grave younger than a hundred years. Large
sinkholes offered glimpses at the actual tops of the graves themselves, which
was so twisted and macabre I almost high-tailed it back to the car. My nerves
blasted through the protective barrier built by Chance’s ear kisses and
scurried up my back like rabid rats. I shuddered and wrapped my arms around my
chest even though I couldn’t really feel the bitter wind swirling through the
graveyard.

“You
all right?” Chance asked, his grip on my waist tightening.

“Yeah,”
I said, ignoring those nerves as we followed Erik, Lila and Kayla to a patch of
towering trees that had broken through the stone wall in the far back of the
cemetery. “Just chilly.” Total lie; judging by Chance’s look of concern, he
knew it.

“This
is too cool,” Kayla said as she pulled the bag from her shoulder and began
digging out its contents. “I’ve wanted to do this since forever.” She opened the store-bought Ouija board and mashed it
into the thick, dry grass, surrounding it with thick round candles. “You guys
move in closer so I can light these.” She used one hand to guide us into a
tight circle while her other dug in the pocket of her coat for a lighter. After
a couple of tries with no success (thanks, New England wind), Chance slid from
my side and crouched down near her.

“Let
me help,” he said, using his large hands to create a cone around the candle.

“Thanks,”
Kayla said with a smile, dipping the lighter beneath Chance’s hands and
striking it. A bright flame soared above his fingers instantly. I didn’t have
to ask if he had some supernatural help; intense heat scalded my skin when his
hand curled back around my waist.

“Ow,”I
said and pulled away.

“What?”
he asked, looking down at me.

I
slithered away from his grip and threw a hand to my side. “Um, I love you,” I
whispered, hoping the wind kept my voice from nearby ears, “but third degree
burns aren’t exactly on my bucket list, thanks.”

Realization
filled his eyes. He quickly snatched his hand away and rubbed it against his
jeans, most likely to try and dispel some of the heat his whole Healer-light
thing had produced. “Sorry.”

I
smiled, feeling like a total douche for making him feel guilty, and nervously
slid back against him. “It’s cool.” He wasted no time wrapping me in his arms
again, that intense heat a bit softer than before.

“Okay,”
Kayla said once her candles were lit. “Everybody take a seat, form a circle,
okay?” I glanced to Erik and Lila, who seemed just as reluctant to do this. I’m
sure for different reasons, though. I was terrified that, given everything
“otherworldly” that had already happened in my short new life, ghosts would
rise from the ground and scare the bejeezus out of us; Erik and Lila were
probably worried about being considered lame or cliché for having a séance in a
cemetery on Halloween. I tried to ignore the gnawing at the back of my mind and
took a seat on the ground between Chance and Erik (of course).

“What
now?” I asked timidly.

“Now,
we call on somebody.” Kayla’s legs were crossed Indian-style, and she was
feverishly rubbing her hands together, her excitement palpable.

“Uh,
what?” I looked from Kayla to Chance and back, totally confused.

“Duh,”
my best friend said, almost rolling her eyes. “How else are we gonna talk to a
spirit if we don’t ask it to come?”

Cue
the nerves.

“You
can’t be serious?” I had been stressing enough over just being here; finding
out we were gonna try and conjure a ghost was almost too much. Yes, I know
that’s the point of a séance, but I honestly didn’t think we were gonna actually do it.

“Did
you leave some of your brain cells in that coffin? What do you think a séance
is?” Ugh. Lila.

“I
know what a séance is, doofus.” I didn’t know exactly what one was, but no way in Hades was I gonna tell her
that. “I just don’t know if this is such a good idea.”

“It
is real,” Kayla said. Did she have
super-hearing or something? I mean, I barely
heard him, and I was right next to him. Of course, that could’ve had something
to do with his warm breath on my ear. “You have to believe it’s real, or it
won’t work,” she added, looking more at me than anyone.

I
didn’t wanna admit that I did believe—probably
even more than she did—so I just nodded and smiled.

“Don’t
let Lover Boy get you down, K,” Erik said, his eyes cutting to Chance before
turning to his friend. “We believe, that’s enough.” He had thrown an arm around
his sister’s shoulders and something oddly similar to jealousy crawled up my
back. Um, what the…?

“Keep
those ‘Lover Boy’ comments coming,” Chance said with a not-even-close-to-funny
laugh, “and I’ll make sure we see a
ghost tonight.” I felt the muscles in his arm still around my waist tighten and
coil.

Erik
laughed back. “Oh yeah?” he said, taking his arm from around Lila. He leaned
over me (dear Lord) and his voice was much lower and more intense than I’d ever
heard it before when he said, “Rain check.” Chance’s entire body tensed as he
watched Erik straighten himself; I threw a hand to his thigh and squeezed.

“Relax,”
I said, praying he wouldn’t start an actual fight. Kayla wanted all of us to
hang out and have fun, and I wanted her to get what she wanted for once. Chance
finally settled down, though he kept glancing at Erik with an intensity that
could cut through steel.

“Everybody
put a finger on the pointer,” Kayla said, one of hers already there. “We all
have to be touching it for it to work.” Lila and Erik wasted no time, followed
by a still-fuming Chance. Naturally, I was the last one to join in, mainly
because something deep inside of me was telling me that if I touched that
thing, all hell was gonna break loose.

“Um,
today, brainless,” Lila said. Wind lifted and tossed her long black hair,
making her appear much more ethereal and beautiful than normal. One more reason
I didn’t like her that much; I mean, it should be a sin to look as good as she
and Erik.

“Ha,”
I snapped, pulling my eyes from her perfect face.

“It’s
okay, Ava,” Kayla said. “Just relax and take your time.” Though her words—and
her sweet face—said it was cool that I was chicken, the tap tap tap of her anxious finger against the plastic pointer
thingy said I needed to get over myself and stop being a party pooper.

But
I just couldn’t. For some reason, something was keeping me from touching that
thing. An unknown force was preventing me from opening whatever door existed to
the other side and letting God knows what out. Vampires were bad enough to deal
with; I couldn’t handle ghosts, too.

At
the same time, I didn’t want to ruin Kayla’s Halloween. Since waking up in that
coffin, I felt as though I’d destroyed their lives, turned them upside down and
left them all broken and exposed to imminent death. If by some strange chance
this whole séance thing was real, I couldn’t live with myself if I brought even
more danger to them.

“Screw
that,” Lila snapped. Before I even realized what was happening, she was on me,
yanking my hand from the safety of my lap and forcing my finger onto the cool
plastic triangle in the center of the board. “See,” she said, her own finger
next to mine, “Your Highness is still alive.”

“For
now.”

The
voice caused all of us to jump. Well, hopefully all of us; otherwise, cue embarrassment.

“What
the hell?” Erik was on his feet in a flash, followed quickly by Lila and Kayla.
Chance helped me up, and the five of us stood in a row shoulder-to-shoulder; it
felt very “superhero movie,” which was kinda cool.

“Mmm,”
the vampire said, turning his nose into the wind and closing his eyes. “Nice.”
I didn’t have to guess what he smelled; I had been trying to ignore the scents
of my friends’ blood all night.

“You
picked the wrong group to screw around with, buddy,” Erik growled. He and Lila
pulled stakes from the sheaths strapped to their backs—twins all the way—and
took a couple steps toward our “guest.”

“Did
I?” the vampire said with a smile. He was large, much wider and taller than any
of the vampires I had already encountered, and I knew this one would be a
challenge. But no way was I letting my friends (or Lila) take him down.

“Yeah,”
I answered, my fangs slicing through my gums and falling into place. “You did.”
I stepped in front of Erik and Lila, half expecting them to get all pissy and
trip me or something. But neither of them did, flanking me instead, the three
of us forming a kick-ass triangle ready to get our kill on.

The
vampire laughed, the sound eerie and out of place. “I’ve heard about you,” he
said, his golden eyes slicing through me. “The vampire killer, right? Well, I
must say it truly is an honor to be the one to end your little tirade.”

I
laughed back. “A bit over confident, don’t you think? Five against one isn’t
really a fair fight.” Kayla and Chance joined us, and for the first time since
waking up to this new life of mine, I felt like I wasn’t alone. It was nice.

One
corner of the vampire’s mouth lifted into a sly, crooked grin. “Oh, I think you should be the one worried about
fair.” As if on cue, several more black-clad figures emerged from the darkness
surrounding the cemetery, leaping over the stone wall and dropping down from
the trees. Within seconds, our five-to-one lead drastically changed.

“Aw,”
Lila said, her voice both sweet and venomous, “you brought friends.” I looked
to her just as she and Erik stepped around me, their stake-filled hands by
their sides. “Now it’s a party.”

Without
thinking, I leapt behind them and stormed ahead, the three of us instantly
swamped by the horde of vampires hell-bent on killing us all.

This is why I'm loving the Halloween Character Booktacular event, I'm getting to meet new authors/books that I haven't heard about before!! I'm definitely adding this series to my tbr list!! Thanks for the giveaway =D

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